The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has declared that members of the Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly, never defected to the party and, therefore, are not members of the party.
APC chairman in the state, Chief Tony Okocha, made the declaration on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt, shortly after the party’s state executive committee meeting.
Okocha insisted that he never received the 27 embattled lawmakers, who are loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, into the APC, saying that what happened at the Port Harcourt Polo Club in December 2023 was not a reception for the 27 lawmakers but an event to celebrate the constitution of a new state executive council of the APC in the state by the national body of the party.
He stated that the lawmakers were invited on individual basis as a result of the relationship that existed between him and them.
The APC chairman said: “There was no intention to organise a reception for what we were not holding. We were inaugurated in Abuja and we chose to organise a reception and thanksgiving for our members. It was not to receive the 27 lawmakers.
“We were misinterpreted to have received the 27 lawmakers into APC. That is not correct. We invited individual members of the Assembly. I have relationship with them over time. We tried to woo them into the party. I was intentional in reaching out to them to join us. We would have counted it all joy if we had succeeded.
“We want to tell Nigerians that the 27 lawmakers led by the Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule never defected to the All Progressives Congress. What people flaunt on social media or television cannot put plausible argument for them. The law is not about emotions. It is as strict as it is.”
Okocha argued that defection starts at the ward level and that there was no record of any of the lawmakers going to their wards to register and be received into the APC. He stated that the APC will soon embark on e-registration for new members into the party, but added that he was not in position to give further details.
The APC Chairman, who is also the Rivers State representative in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), also accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of disobeying court orders and rule of law.
He stated that Fubara’s continued disobedience of court orders by was an invitation to anarchy in the state, citing the Justice Omotosho’s ruling which ordered the governor to re-present the 2024 budget before the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly, which the governor failed to obey.
Okocha said: “The era of strong man mentality is gone. The law has taken its place. There is no way a High Court can sit in judgement over a superior court of Appeal. It is not done. It is a pity that senior lawmakers in this country will now come out to misinterpret the court judgement.
“We are disenchanted by the disrespect to the rule of law by the governor. Justice James Omotosho granted 15 reliefs in his judgement but the governor has refused to obey them. You cannot run the state without an annual budget. But the governor is doing so. You cannot present a budget before a three-man Assembly. The Appeal Court called it a forum.”
